When our customers find the beginning of an illness with ThePetCheckup, it is often early stages of lower urinary tract disease. This is true for both cats and dogs, although it is more common in cats.

There are many causes of FLUTD, but the symptoms are very similar:

1. the most common is straining in the litterbox: cats will make frequent and repeated attempts to use the box although the amount of urine they pass is very small

2. urinating outside the litterbox: often they prefer cool surfaces such as bathtubs and tile floors. Many people don’t realize there is a problem until they find little puddles of urine around, sometimes containing blood.

I also have been reading about idiopathic lower urinary tract disease (Chloe was diagnosed with this once) and I will write more about this tomorrow. It is quite common.

Several months ago I had gotten so busy with work that I neglected to do a monthly ThePetCheckup test on Chloe and Kate.

Sure enough, Chloe developed litter box problems. She would go in the box but could not pee. Kate would stand next to the box, wide-eyed, staring at me with a look that could only be interpreted as “something is wrong with Chloe and you had better take action quick!”

A trip to the vet and some medication solved the problem pretty quickly. We were lucky that it was caught early. But there was no real diagnosis as to the origin of the problem. Some research I did showed that for least 50% of cats with FLUTD the cause of the illness remains undetermined. Sometimes it is called FiLUTD or Feline Ideopathic Urinary Tract Disease, or Ideopathic Cystitis. It can quickly develop into something serious, so should be treated right away.

Once again, I was reminded how significant the role ThePetCheckup plays in keeping Chloe and Kate healthy.

Several months ago I had gotten extremely busy with work and neglected to do a monthly ThePetCheckup test on the kitties.

Sure enough, Chloe started to have litter box problems. She would go into her box but could not pee. Kate stood next to the box and looked at me wide-eyed. Her expression could only mean one thing–“something’s not right with Chloe and you better take action quick!!”.

The problem was solved with a trip to the vet and some medication although it was never really diagnosed as to what exactly Chloe had. Research I did showed that 50% of cats with Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease will not have a cause that can be determined. Sometimes the situation is called FiLUTD or Feline Idiopathic Urinary Tract Disease.

I was really lucky that it was caught so early. And again, it reinforced what a valuable role ThePetCheckup plays in keeping my animals healthy.